Google users have been checking out the latest addition to their search results since the Mountain View giant announced that Social Search had been taken out of its Labs site and begun rolling out in English.

The change means anyone with a Google account will notice that their search results feature information gathered from their social networks, including photos and blog content connected to queries.

As Google search vice-president Marissa Mayer revealed at last year's Web two.0 conference in San Francisco, the aim is to make the search experience more personal and relevant with the inclusion of web content from individuals' friends and online contacts.

Social Search's arrival also follows the integration of real-time Twitter posts into results, wherever the search engine considers them to be relevant, to make the search experience as thorough and speedy as possible. News headlines, blogs and Facebook/MySpace feeds also feature in real-time search results.

"We think there's tremendous potential for social information to improve search, and we're just beginning to scratch the surface," the search team explain on the Google blog, adding: "We're leaving a 'beta' label on social results because we know there's a lot more we can do."